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There's an interesting article in the December '17 issue of Hemmings Classic Car about the Chilton company (first page below), its history, and what finally happened to it. Got started in 1904, published all kinds of things besides car repair manuals over the decades, went through numerous owner changes and mergers over the decades, and ended up being broken up in 1996 when it came to be owned by the Walt Disney Company when it purchased the ABC tv network. ABC had come to own Chilton in 1979 when it purchased Chilton and made it part of their ABC Publishing Group.
Today, the Chilton brand is owned by Haynes Publishing, that other publisher of auto repair manuals.
The article ends with an interesting point about manuals like Chilton and Haynes in comparison with factory service manuals. People on this site tend to poo-poo the Chilton-type manuals in favor of the factory manuals claiming the latter is the best manual to have. The article points out, correctly, I think, that while of course the factory manual is indispensable, they're not written for the do-it-yourselfer as they often assume knowledge that a non-professional might not have and are always calling for specialized tools that no one has ("tool B-104," and then you have to go look at the end of the chapter to see what tool B-104 looks like and what you might have in your toolbox that comes close), while the Chilton manuals will call for tools that are commonly found in toolboxes (instead of tool B-104, go get a C-clamp or something like that). Plus, there are often diagrams in the Chilton manuals that are not in the factory manuals, and basic tune-up, etc. type information is consolidated in one large table whereas the same information is scattered all over the factory manual. Plus, factory manuals are, as a rule, horribly indexed, and it often takes lots of flipping pages to find all the information needed to solve a particular problem.
I like to keep both types of manuals on hand.
I currently have two Chilton manuals on my shelf. The '64 to '71 manual has been helpful in working on my '67 Delta 88 while the '75 to '90 BOP manual, while not specifically covering the Toronado, still has some useful information in it regarding the 403 V-8, of which one is in my '78 Toro. They also chose to put an Olds Custom Cruiser on the cover. On the other hand, they unfortunately stuck the phrase "Estate Wagon" among the Oldsmobile models. Oh well.
I also have a Peterson's Big Book of Auto Repair that covers 1970 to 1977. While, again, that doesn't exactly cover my Toro's model year, it does cover through 1977, which was the first year of the 403.
The best thing about these three manuals is that I found all three at garage sales, paying a few buck each for the larger ones and $1 for the smaller Chilton. Can't beat that.
What manuals, besides the factory ones, do you have on your shelf?
My favorite of the generic manuals are Motors. The older ones from 50s and 60s. Like you say, they have great info and more theory of how things work. The truck and tractor manuals even covered old farm tractors and industrial engines, the transmissions and axles used by many makers, and a wealth of info.
My favorite of the generic manuals are Motors. The older ones from 50s and 60s. Like you say, they have great info and more theory of how things work. The truck and tractor manuals even covered old farm tractors and industrial engines, the transmissions and axles used by many makers, and a wealth of info.
Motors Manuals were my bible growing up. Never particularly cared for the Chilton/Haynes mauals, accuracy was not their strong point. I have never bought factory manuals for these old cars because repairs on them are pretty straight forward.
Interesting. I have a Chilton's manual for my Olds. I think it covers domestic makes and models from 65-78 or something. It's pretty convenient. I recently got rid of some other "generic" auto repair books since I never used them. I have a few additional books on Quadrajets, Holleys, TH-400s, etc.
Chilton were the next best thing to the factory CSM and their Professional Service annuals were, along with Motors, what you found in most general service garages. I have both and they're excellent references.
I DO NOT LIKE Haynes manuals. Period. I bought one for the 87 Aries K I had and it was next to useless.
I had wondered what happened to Chilton Publications. When I read what Disney had done I wasn't surprised. Not too hep on Disney crap either. Their animation is too cutesy and they were always a cruel studio to work for. They butchered the careers of a lot of young talent, though a few managed to escape the Disney servitude.
I have a few additional books on Quadrajets, Holleys, TH-400s, etc.
I have a Rochester carburetor manual published by Haynes in 1994. It was very helpful in rebuilding the 2-jet on my '67 Delta 88, and I like the section on carburetor adjustment, which was useful when I was rebuilding and fiddling with the carb on my '78 Toro. I know all this info is in the chassis manual, but it's a little more compact and a little more written for the non-expert with many more photos than the CSM has.
Sometimes Haynes and Chilton get things wrong. As an example, I have a Chilton's guide for my truck. When I changed the fuel filter the manual mentioned: "Install the fuel filter empty." It went on to explain that the engine would pull fuel into the filter while cranking. While this is true it required 2+ minutes of cranking to fill the fuel filter. Plus, they never mentioned that you need to purge the lines of air with a built in Schrader valve while cranking to get the truck to start. Anyways...
I have a 1966 Motors Flat Rate & Parts Manual, 65-71 Motors Manual as well as a few Chilton, 68 (60-68), 75 (68-75), & 79 (72-79)... They have come in handy when I had to deal with a vehicle other then an Oldsmobile... My CSM library is quite extensive to cover all the Oldsmobiles from 1965 thru 2004...
What manuals, besides the factory ones, do you have on your shelf?
I have a set of Chilton and /or Motor's manuals that cover from 1925 to 1997
I also have truck manuals from 1952 to 1979 . as well as flat rate manuals (good for parts info) from 1925 to 1979.
These are a couple of pages from my 1930 Chilton .
Are you looking for information on modern vehicles, or your Olds? I work with a care care ministry at a local church and we use the following sources: Number 1 is YouTube! Seriously, someone else has probably installed or replaced the same thing you are going thru, and the took some video of doing it. If you need factory information that is not on a specific forum (like classicoldsmobile.com or nissan maxima, etc) If you are working on a toyota you are lucky because instead of the $1495 annual fee for TIS, you can get a 2 day license for like $22, and have all the factory info and data for a single project. Just searching google for diagrams isn't usually super useful because it doesn't sort thru pictures very well. We were diagnosing a wiper problem, and plugging in 1984 ford f150 wiper diagram didn't yield useful results, but combing over the answers in specifc forums did. It took about 20 minutes to find all the diagrams to diagnose it, and indicate that yes, the factory method of removing the wiper motor does require a lot of sheetmetal removal. . . bleah . . .
So, what do you want to know, on what, and how often do you need it?
"Consumer" "Chilton" manuals were barely adequate for high-school kids. "Professional" Chilton and Motors manuals were--and perhaps still are--reasonably useful.
Nothing in print beats the official manufacturer's manuals IF you have the right edition, and the volume that actually features what you're working on. (i.e., do you need the "Service Manual" or do you need the "Unit Overhaul Manual"?)
I've got a multitude of "How to Rebuild Your (XXXXX)" books, along with "How To Hot-Rod Your (XXXXXX). I have my old Trade School textbooks (Less and less useful all the time, in fact I haven't opened one in years.) I have Delco-Remy ring-binder service manuals for Electrical Systems, Carburetors, and Brakes.
True enough, one of my recent projects involved watching several YouTube videos to see the expeditious method of tightening up the loose steering column in a GMT400 pickup. God bless the Internet.
When I got my first car (a hand-me-down 68 Vista), I got the 1964-1975 Chiltons book. This was before I even knew that such a thing as a CSM existed. As a teenager, the Chiltons manual, coupled with high school auto shop, helped me learn basic maintenance, but once I discovered the 1968 CSM, I never looked back. In later years, in the few cases when I've owned off-brand cars (Audi 5000, Jag XJ6), I originally bought a Haynes/Motor/Chilton manual for those cars. Invariably I ended up paying for a real factory manual because I was so disappointed in the content and lack of detail in the third party manual. I've finally learned not to waste my money on those third-party books.
I bought a Chilton's guide for my 96 Oldsmobile and my 86 Ford truck. As I said earlier, the info in them is sometimes incomplete or wrong, but as someone that is mechanically savvy I usually only need to double-check the service procedure to make sure I don't screw something up. As an example, I used the Chilton's guide for my 96 Oldsmobile for rear suspension torque specs when I replaced them recently. Unfortunately, I've had to search YouTube and Buick forums on replacing the air doors under the dash for a problem I've been having with the dual zone climate control recently. The Chilton's guide has very little info on disassembling the AC/heat plenum. I suppose I will have to break down and buy factory service manuals for both my 96 Olds and my truck before too long.
Also, I think the books that Shurkey mentioned like "How to Rebuild your XXXX" are just cool for a guy to have in his shop. I've got plenty of those books (Quadrajet carburetors, Holley carburetors, 7.3l diesel engines, Ford 9" rear ends, etc.).
One of the issues with those manuals is they can give you very powerful information without adequate cautions and cause you to really screw something up if you don't already have complete knowledge of the procedure.
Mike, those wheels were also available on the Olds CC before the generation changed in 91/92. I mentioned them in post #14 of this thread. They're quite rare now.
Oh how about that. Nice looking wheel, never saw it on the Olds.
1989-1990 Custom Cruiser only, which is why most people haven't seen them. And the wheels themselves aren't rare, as they ARE the same P/N as the Buford wheels. It's the Oldsmobile center caps that are rare.
The Olds rims have different paint highlights than the Buick, and yes it is really hard to find Olds caps. I used the Buick caps on my Regency's. There are also two series of those wheels, one uses regular cone shaped wheel nuts and the other wheel uses wheel nuts with flanges.
My Chilton guide unfortunately assumes that I know more than I do. What was most helpful for me is taking the car's assembly manual and then reviewing how items go together not mentioned Chilton... to find out that I should probably either just talk to my mechanic, lookup info on this site or maybe I can actually figure things out. The most frustrating stuff so far has been things that were assumed to be fine but, not. ex, painted and stuck door latch or wiring.
The Olds rims have different paint highlights than the Buick, and yes it is really hard to find Olds caps. I used the Buick caps on my Regency's. There are also two series of those wheels, one uses regular cone shaped wheel nuts and the other wheel uses wheel nuts with flanges.
The Buick versions had either different paint highlights or center caps every year they were offered. Hey, GM HADDA do something to make the customer think they were getting the latest and greatest things!
October 27th, 2017, 07:53 AM
